Heroic efforts to save a frantic girl of 12 from the stormy North Sea were in vain, an inquest was told.

Jade Anderson died after being swept into the sea as she played with pals.

At the hearing into the tragedy her mother and stepfather Sandra and Alan Bland were inconsolable as they heard how PC Darren Purvis leapt into the sea at Collywell Bay, Seaton Sluice.

Rescue teams were called to the area on February 8 after Jade swept out to sea by a huge wave with friends Beth Gardner, 12, Emma Douglas, 12 and Katie Oakfield, 13.

Emma and Katie were rescued by a surfer and two fisherman but Jade and Beth drifted further out to sea. The inquest, at North Tyneside Magistrates, heard how PC Purvis tied a rope to his waist and leapt into the water, pulling Beth to safety.

But Jade, who could not swim, had been dragged further out and, though he managed to pull her to shore, she lost her fight for life the next day.

PC Purvis said: "I tied a rope round my waist and told members of the public and paramedics to hold the end while I went in.

"Beth managed to paddle close to the shores I could stop her being hit against the rocks. I was told there was another girl still in the water, face down. I could see a figure 80 yards out.

"The police helicopter used their down draft to blow her towards me. I managed to grab the girl. She wasn't breathing."

The inquest heard how Jade had clung to Beth's hand before the pair were wrenched apart by thrashing waves, with terrified Jade screaming `I am going to die.'

Fisherman Bob Watts and Robert Chapell along with surfer Mark Dinning told the inquest they had pleaded with PC Purvis not to go into the dangerous waters.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, North Tyneside coroner Eric Armstrong paid tribute to the bravery of all those involved in the rescue as he ruled that Jade's death had been a tragic accident caused by drowning and hypothermia.

He said: " To lose a child at any age is tragic but this was a young girl doing what seemed to be perfectly innocent."